LENORMAND’S 9 YARDS: FATED OR DOOMED?

Inspired by a discussion on how profound an impact we can make on others, I asked the Lenormand cards the following question: what are the elements that go into a most profound touch, and where does it hit the hardest?

Without analyzing the whole 9 cards in depth, here’s what I pondered when seeing the first row of three cards. My reflections on these three cards reminded me of how most readers hesitate in the face of what to make of the Cross when aligned with benevolent cards. There are 3 possibilities here: fated relationship, doomed relationship, or a sad affair.

We note that at the core of the carré is the Stork. Its cartomantic value is the Queen of Cups. Around it we have a straight-forward theme. To answer the question, we can say that the most profound touch consists of instilling instant love (Heart + Clover), or a perennial love at first sight (Heart + Clover modified by Tree). This has an impact on a spiritual and graceful man, (Cross + Man modified by Lily).

As we got the Man card in the spread without asking for it, we could be even more specific and add some more information, fortunetelling style. The man is tall, with a big nose, and dark complexion. He is troubled, of a shifting character, and with a tendency to leave things behind. He is also wealthy.

This information is given through the following cards: The Stork gives us clues as to the physical appearance and temperament (long legs and nose, fleeting). The Ship gives us a clue as to his provenance: Africa, the Mediterranean area, or a host of other colonized countries (this includes Canada, and the US). Money-wise, he has his luck with him. His ship comes in. The Cross gives us a clue as to what aches him: the heart.

Now let us go back to the first row and consider the function of the Cross there. The Cross mirroring the Clover tells us that our most profound touch happened at this level: of an extraordinary chance. The incurable melancholic (Cross + Tree) met the love of his life (Heart + Clover + Tree), but due to his belief in what he thinks is an inconstant Queen of Hearts (Cross + Stork) he fails to recognize the significance of a desired long-term commitment (Ring + Ship).

One could say that he regrets his involvement (Cross + Ring + Heart). But if you remember, we didn’t start with a question about a particular man whom we can assign agency, and about whom we can say that he is like this or like that, doing this or that, desiring this or that. We wanted to know about the querent’s wish to figure out what her most profound touch consists of and where it hits the hardest.

The final answer to this question must be this: love hits the heart. Whether doomed, fated, or sad, it is for the instant, lucky, extraordinary chance itself to assess to what extent changeability, squeezed between purity and longevity, has any significance at all. When love hits the heart, it moves it.

Einstein used to say that ‘nothing happens until something moves,’ and I get the impression that he didn’t refer to our own efforts to push our ships forward, force our luck, and decide that we can just regret what happened and move on. There’s more to the cross than the crossroad.

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The deck: The Original Lenormand: facsimile reconstruction by Tarot Professionals (Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin; art direction: Ciro Marchetti), 2012, after the first Lenormand deck by J.K. Hechtel, ca. 1800.

Yes. A love like that evolves perennially but not everyone gets it. It requires faith to see beyond the veil. To look at such love requires a powerful knock at your heart. When it answers, you must make pacts with it, give it the kiss of the cross, and then stay completely still while riding the wave. Make a sudden move in another direction and you will feel the weight of the cross falling on you. It will hit you so hard that you will never recover. So yes, a most profound touch is iredeemable.